Item #64205 The Focus of Life. The Mutterings of Aaos. Austin Osman SPARE, author and, Francis Marsden.
The Focus of Life. The Mutterings of Aaos.
The Focus of Life. The Mutterings of Aaos.
The Focus of Life. The Mutterings of Aaos.
The Focus of Life. The Mutterings of Aaos.
The Focus of Life. The Mutterings of Aaos.
The Focus of Life. The Mutterings of Aaos.
The Focus of Life. The Mutterings of Aaos.
The Focus of Life. The Mutterings of Aaos.
The Focus of Life. The Mutterings of Aaos.

The Focus of Life. The Mutterings of Aaos.

London: The Morland Press, 1921. First Edition. Hardcover. Large Quarto. xii + 44pp (plus 11 plates). Original buff colored buckram boards with white vellum (actually parchment) spine, with title lettered in gilt up spine. Eleven full page black and white illustrations. COPY NO. 1 OF 50 COPIES OF THE DELUXE EDITION - THIS COPY INSCRIBED BY AUSTIN OSMAN SPARE TO HIS PATRON PICKFORD WALLER, WHO WAS ALSO ONE OF THE TWO INDIVIDUALS NAMED IN THE PRINTED 'THANKYOU' ON THE VERSO OF THE TITLE-PAGE. The inscription is on a reproduction of Spare's own bookplate with a large blank margin surrounding it which is tipped onto the front pastedown. The inscription reads: "To Pickford Waller with thanks for / his co-operation. / "The Focus of Life" / Edition de Luxe / [bookplate design] / of which this is No. 1 / [signed] Austin O. Spare." Waller is also named in a printed note on the verso of the title-page "I desire to express my thanks to Mr. Desmond Coke and Ma. Pickford Waller for the loan of the original drawings reproduced in this book." Harper A4a. According to Harper there were only 50 copies of this deluxe issue released (it was described by the publisher as quarter vellum - but it is actually quarter parchment). Most copies of the deluxe issue were signed and numbered by Spare on the half-title page, although a number that we have seen were neither signed nor numbered. We have not encountered another copy, signed thus, with the special bookplate at the front. The work itself is one of Spare's most enigmatic: a magical-philosophical discourse with Nietzschean undertones. It is worth noting that the original illustrations have a subtlety unmatched in any of the reprints, although a few of the latter have been laudable attempts. A "Good" only copy. For some reason copies of this edition are seldom encountered in really pristine shape, this copy being no exception. The book has obviously had a mild damp exposure at some stage in the distant past. There is a thumb-print sized brown stain at the head of the spine obscuring the word "Life" of the title. Being white the spine itself is somewhat grubby (as often) and there is a light bump at the head of the spine and the top of the front board. The boards are lightly damp affected and there is some rubbing, fading and discolouration towards the top of each of the boards. There are some small darkened patches on the fore-edges of the front and rear boards. There is some spotting to the fore-edges of the pages, just bleeding into the margins (no more than an eighth of an inch at the worst) and some minor browning at the extreme inner margins. Otherwise internally the book is unusually clean - it is a volume where the pages are often heavily tanned, and with some foxing. In this copy there is only a little shadowing to the blanks, the tanning is modest, and there is virtually no foxing. The plates are sharp and fresh, and the binding is firm, and despite its condition issues, it is still a solid and obviously unique association copy. (No dust jacket issued). Item #64205

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